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No Charges in HRP Arrest of Man on Magazine Hill

Jul

10

The province's independent Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) today released its report regarding the arrest of a 38-year-old man on Magazine Hill in the early morning of October 11, 2014.

On that date, at approximately 6 a.m., members of the Lower Sackville RCMP and the Halifax Regional Police (HRP) arrested the male as a suspect in a break and enter that had occurred that morning at a sporting goods store in Burnside. During the arrest he was found in possession of five handguns that were taken from the store. After his arrest, he complained of an arm injury. It was later determined that he had a broken bone in his left arm.

The man complained that a male HRP officer had grabbed his arm too forcefully while handcuffing him, causing the break. However, a doctor that examined him indicated the nature of the break seemed inconsistent with the injury being caused that way. Rather, the break was more consistent with the man suffering a direct blow to his arm. The male acknowledged that he crashed his van into the store during the break and enter, and that he was heavily under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time. Medical evidence indicated the drugs and alcohol could have masked the pain from an earlier break to the arm. Other officers at the scene indicated that little force was used to arrest the male as he was cooperative, and the male did not complain about pain in his arm when arrested. In the circumstances, particularly the medical evidence, the most reasonable conclusion is that AP fractured his arm prior to being arrested by police. There are no grounds to consider any charges against the HRP officer in the matter.

SIRT is responsible for investigating all serious incidents involving police in Nova Scotia. Investigations are under the direction and control of independent civilian director Ron MacDonald, who is solely responsible for decisions respecting the laying of any charge.